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Sunday, 25 May 2014

Bath owner set for Champions' Cup role

Bath owner Bruce Craig is set to be named as one of three executive directors of the new European Rugby Champions' Cup.

The Rugby Paper reports that Craig will be appointed to the Cup's executive committee as the Aviva Premiership's representative in a trio of officials tasked with bringing business clout to the Champions' Cup, which next season replaces the Heineken Cup as Europe's premier rugby competition.

Joining Craig on the committee will be Pro12 representative Paul McNaughton and Rene Fontes for the Top 14. McNaughton has previously served as chairman of Leinster while Fontes was president of Clermont until last season.

Craig played a leading role in the English clubs' success in creating the new structure for European rugby at the expense of the old union-controlled European Rugby Cup (ERC). Organisers believe they can push the revenue per season generated by the new Champions' Cup to £100m in five years, surpassing the current £44m per season generated by the ERC.